“Does that include you?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, it does.” She watched him, wishing that she could see his eyes so that she had some idea what he was feeling.
Slowly, he turned to look in her direction and smiled.
She must have dozed off, because she woke when she heard Finn open his door. She turned to him.
“Good, you’re awake. I’m going to open the door to the house and let your dog out. Will he let me come into the house?”
“Just yell ‘Miller, come here boy’ and stand by the open door, he should be fine. He’s protective of me but the house, not at all.” She fumbled with the seatbelt latch.
“Stay here until I come back to walk you in.”
“Bossy,” she told him, trying to joke.
“Just stay put.” He smiled as he gave her a look telling her that he was serious.
Moments later, he escorted her up to her room. She sat on the side of her bed and kicked off her shoes. She could hear Finn in the bathroom opening and closing drawers. “Look in the medicine cabinet, maybe the second shelf. I think it should be the only prescription bottle.”
Miller wandered into the room and plopped on the floor by her feet.
Finn came out of the bathroom with the prescription bottle in his hand. “Here, take these, it says you can take two and they haven’t expired.” He held out two tablets and she put them in her mouth, he handed her a bottle of water.
After taking a few more sips of the water, she put it on the nightstand.
“What do you want to put on?” He looked around the room. “Or do you sleep naked?”
“Top drawer on the right.” She pointed to the chest of drawers. “Grab any T-shirt.” Tonight definitely was not the night to whip out the sexy lingerie.
He returned with a blue shirt in his hand. She started to stand, and he was there, holding onto her arm, steadying her.
“Hey, hang on. I don’t want you falling over.” His knuckles brushed her stomach as he lifted her sweater over her head, and stepped closer and unhooked her bra. His hands were moving to the waist of her pants. “Do these unzip or what?”
“What?” She was enjoying resting against his strong body. “No, they have elastic, just pull down.” He pushed them down over her rounded hips, and she could feel the cool air on her thighs. He moved her so she could step to her right and she was free of her pants.
“Raise your arms.” He held up the T-shirt.
She raised her arms over her head. He dropped it over her head and then helped pull it down, over her curves.
“Hold onto me, I need to get the covers.” She looped her arm around his waist.
When he had tucked her into the bed, it suddenly occurred to her that he didn’t have a ride. “You can take my SUV, you can drive it home.”
“Don’t worry about that, just try to rest.” He stroked her forehead soothingly. “Is it all right if I use the room across the hall?”
“You don’t need to go home?”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
She loved that Finn was willing to stay to watch over her. “Yeah, I think it has everything set up.”
“If not, I’ll find it.” He turned the bedside lamp off. “If you need anything, I mean even to get up to go to pee, you call me. You’re pretty unsteady on your feet.”
“Thank you for everything, take whatever you need.” Her eyelids felt heavy.
“I’m just across the hall.”
She was already drifting toward sleep.
She woke and it was a good sign that she could read the clock’s numbers. She had slept six hours and the pounding in her head had slowed. She shifted onto her back and wondered if Finn would come in to check on her before he left in a few hours. Who was she kidding? She knew he would. He had been so careful with her last night, jumping right in to care for her and surprisingly, she hadn’t even considered Jasmine’s offer to go to her house. This gentle and caring side of Finn made her feel warm all over. She could get used to it.
Hale was standing in front of Lily Rose’s bathroom mirror trying to put another coat of mascara onto her lashes. She had arrived a few hours early to help Izzy and Jasmine with the finishing touches for their annual Thanksgiving party. Their home was decorated with fall leaves, pumpkins, and gourds. The night wasn’t too cool, but Izzy had the three fireplaces burning throughout the first floor to add coziness. The caterers were busy setting up the two bars and were finishing the food preparations. Caleb and Lily Rose were spending the night with friends so their parents could enjoy themselves.
She was nervous; this was a large public outing for the new couple. She mentally shook herself; it was ridiculous at her age to have so many butterflies in her stomach. She finished and started coating the lashes on the other. Finn was to meet her at the party, and she knew that he planned to spend the night with her. “Stop being silly,” she told her reflection. It wasn’t like it was going to be their first time or that she was inexperienced. She remembered sex with Finn very well, maybe too well, and that had her worked up. She hadn’t been a virgin when she was with him before, but it was obvious that she hadn’t known anything about good sex. She remembered him as a lover who intuitively knew what she needed. It had been vanilla, but it was good. Whew, her body heated just thinking about that big body riding hers.
She had finished putting her makeup away in her bag when there was a knock on the door. “What?” she hollered.
Jasmine opened the door and stuck her head in. “I’m going down, do you need anything?”
“I’m almost ready.” The doorbell chimed. “Go greet your guests.” Hale ordered.
She sat on the bed pulling her thigh high hose over her foot gingerly. She was reaching for her dress as another knock rattled her door, and it opened before she could reply.
Finn stepped into the room. He looked her up and down with a huge smile on his face. “Now I see why Jasmine told me where to find you. I like.” His voice sounded like it had dropped an octave lower, the growl of it causing a shiver of desire to flow through her body.
She fought her first instinct to cover herself. She was wearing a black bra and matching silk panties, her hose and silver pumps. She stood, continuing to dress. “Do you?” She felt her cheeks heat, competing with the jolt of excitement in her pussy. “Need something?” She hoped her hands didn’t shake as she lifted the hanger holding her dress. She was so happy with this dress, it was sexy and playful. A deep berry, the color of that rare fall leaf, and the style made her waist look tiny and her boobs and hips, lush.
“You. You only.” Finn sounded a little out of breath as he crossed the room to her. He took the hanger from her hand and threw the dress on the bed, his other arm circled her waist, pulling her against him. “You look beautiful.” He bent to kiss her.
She pushed on his chest, laughing. “You’re going to get my lipstick on you.”
“Good.” He closed the distance and kissed her.
This was not a gentle hello kiss, it was hungry, and his tongue met hers and tangled. Her arms circled his neck and she held on. Far away, she could hear the doorbell chime repeatedly. She lowered her arms as he finished the kiss, and caught his bottom lip with her teeth, lightly pulling on it. “Sounds like people are arriving. I need to finish getting dressed.”
He didn’t shield the hunger in his eyes. “I’ll help.”
“I have the feeling that your kind of help won’t speed things along.” She stepped away and walked to the bed, picking up the dress.
“That seems like a lot of dress.” Finn leaned against the closet door watching her.
She could feel him looking at her body, it made her feel sexy. “Compared to Jazz’s, definitely.” She turned to pull the dress over her head. It fell over her hips. She straightened the bodice and smoothed the fabric, twisting her hips a few times, to enjoy the very full skirt’s movement. She quickly secured the buttons, and turned to face Finn.
“Wow.” He moved to give her better acc
ess to the mirror.
She smoothed her hair and checked her reflection.
“I can’t find enough words, you look amazing.” He moved closer, she watched his approach in the glass. He traced the neckline of the dress, his callused finger lightly teasing the tops of her breasts. “Just don’t bend over.”
She smacked his arm as she smiled at him. He did have a good point, she had better bend at the knees tonight.
He tugged gently on the skirt covering her ass. “Let me amend that, I’d like to have you bent over Izzy’s desk, with those black panties around your ankles.” He ran his hand over her ass a few times.
“I don’t think Izzy would like that very much. He doesn’t like anyone to mess with his desk.” She teased, but she was enjoying the possessive look in Finn’s eyes.
“I’d buy him a new desk, hell, I’d buy him two.” He roughly turned her to face him and kissed her again.
She chuckled while he kissed her. “I think that would definitely cause talk, you the respectable mayor and such scandalous behavior.”
“You OK with this? I don’t think I can stay away from you tonight. You’re too beautiful.” He caressed her cheek. “The people downstairs won’t have any doubts about us being together.”
“I’m fine. I don’t think we’ll have trumpets blasting as we walk down the steps or anything,” she teased.
“So, me beating my chest and circling the room getting high-fives is out of the question?” He pulled her closer, aligning their bodies.
“This is a formal event, no high-fiving, but maybe a few discreet fist bumps would be acceptable.” Being able to joke about it helped offset her nervousness. She lifted her chin to signal that she wanted another kiss.
The doorbell rang several times in quick succession, and she broke the kiss reluctantly. “We need to join the party.” She walked to the bed and organized her overnight bag. She tried to keep her focus while closing the zipper, then moving closer to the door. She turned and motioned with her finger for him to follow her.
He walked to her and caught her hand, raising it to his lips. “You nervous?”
The denial was on her lips but he knew her too well. “Just a little.”
He watched her, waiting for her to say more.
“All my life, when I’ve wanted something really badly, well, I rarely got it.” She tried to smile, but she felt her eyes fill with tears. She didn’t mean material things, but her mother’s love, a place in the world, belonging because of the person she was, not her name or her bank account.
Finn took her hand and placed it over his heart. “Don’t think for a minute that this isn’t what I want, what I’ve always wanted. You should be in my arms and I should be in yours. Is that how you feel, Hale?”
She could barely get the word out; there was a huge lump in her throat. “Yes.”
“But?”
“I’m scared that it will get screwed up. I might do something and ruin it.”
“I want this, with you.” He kissed her lips, sweetly, and his gaze returned to hers, as if he was trying to figure out what she was thinking and feeling. “No grand entrance for us tonight. Let’s take the back stairs and quietly mix with the crowd.”
She nodded as he opened the door and she stepped into the hallway. He was right. It did feel natural to be with him.
A half hour passed, the living room was filled with people, and Hale could hear the doorbell chiming as still more arrived. Finn had left her talking with Missy Temple about the plans for the Community Child Care project on Thanksgiving night. Missy was going to be the lead for the time slot that Hale and Jasmine had volunteered for. She tried to search the room for Finn, he’d gone to get drinks and she was thirsty. She missed his body next to hers. God, she was so in love, she was behaving like a teenager. She felt like she was on an emotional pendulum, excited and happy with Finn’s attention, then dreading that it might turn to shit. It was exhausting, this waiting for something bad to happen.
“My biggest worry is that the people won’t pay attention to the rule that the parent who drops the child off, must pick them up. I hope we don’t run into any problems.” Missy bit her lip.
“Well, you could take a photo of the child with the parent when they register, and if we had a printer right there, we attach the photo, the rules and have the adult sign off. Then, if there is a problem, you’d have the physical evidence of the policy. I’ve found that if you can show the evidence at the beginning, it can help defuse the situation.”
“Oh my God, Hale, you are a genius. I’m going to call everyone tomorrow, and tell them that we have to do that.” Missy hugged her.
“I think Finn told me that a police officer would be posted outside, so that should help, too.”
“The Chief said that starting at two, he would post an officer,” Missy disclosed.
“Here’s another thought, whoever is working the front counter should let dispatch know their cell number in case there is a problem and they needed to call it in. That would save time, especially if they couldn’t explain their location.” Hale gave a little shrug, she didn’t want to seem like she was pointing out weaknesses in their plan. In fact, it was a great idea and service to the community, since so many people took advantage of the holiday sales starting in the early hours of the morning. Instead of having to find a sitter or drag the kids out, parents could drop them at the Community Center starting at ten on Thanksgiving night.
“You should have been on the committee. You’re coming up with ideas that we hadn’t even considered.”
Hale was smiling at her friend’s praise, when she saw Major approach. The Benton’s guest list included every businessperson, county club member, and friend that they could think of. It made sense that Major had been invited, but she was surprised that he would actually show. She had endured a very uncomfortable telephone conversation with him after the debacle at dinner the other night. She’d told him that she was not interested in speaking with him again. He asked what her relationship was to Finn. Her first instinct had been to evade, but instead she told the truth. He made some uncomplimentary observations about him and hung up. Thankfully, he had not called again.
Major stopped a few feet in front of the ladies and put his hands on his hips. “Missy, Hale,” he greeted them without a smile.
Missy was oblivious to his demeanor. “Happy Thanksgiving, Major, did you just get here?”
Hale didn’t respond. She didn’t like the way he was staring at her, he examined her from top to bottom with a look.
“What, I’m not good enough to greet, now that you’ve moved on?” He raised the volume of his voice.
She gave him an icy smile. “Of course not, glad that you could make the party. The bar is in the family room.” She tilted her head in the direction of the doorway.
“I’m surprised to see you without the mayor by your side. Has he tired of you so quickly?” he sneered.
Missy inhaled sharply and shot a confused look at Hale.
Where the fuck was Finn, or Izzy and Jazz? She sensed everyone turning to watch this little drama. She paused, trying to come up with a reply. She straightened her spine, meeting his stare with a challenge of her own. “Is there something on your mind? You now have an audience, so please, go on, entertain us.” She made sure that each word carried across the room.
“I thought that you were an intelligent woman. You must know that Finn is using you. He is going to woo you and when he’s had you, he’ll walk away. He’s done it time and time again. I’m sure that he will take great pride in hurting you. What is it they say? Payback’s a bitch.” Major rocked forward onto his toes, clearly enjoying the moment.
“Is that what you came here to say?” Finn handed the drinks he was carrying to a man standing in the doorway, and casually moved through the crowd. “You have everyone’s attention, trying to embarrass Hale, but you’ve only managed to make a fool of yourself.” He finished that statement as he stopped right in front of Major.
Hale scanned the room. Izzy and Jasmine stood in the foyer doorway, Izzy looked furious and Jasmine’s eyes met hers. She could clearly see the concern from across the room.
Major continued. “What, no denial, Finn? Did I hit a nerve by speaking the truth?”
Before Finn could respond, Hale was there. “How dare you.” She paused, the room was silent. “Just who do you think you are to come here and act like a jealous fool?”
Major leaned in toward Hale, as if he was going to intimidate her.
No fucking way was this poof ball, peacock of a man going to shut her down now. “For the record, there was nothing romantic between us. For God’s sake, we kissed once and I’m not even sure you liked it because it never happened again. You weren’t into me and I was not into you.”
Finn snickered at that, as did others in the crowd.
Major’s face turned red. “That is no way for a lady to talk.”
“Oh my God, not another lecture about behavior.” She raised her hands toward the sky dramatically. “I went out with you socially, and now I don’t even know why. You are a snob and a bore.”
Major made a “humph” sound in the back of his throat then continued arrogantly. “Hale, I’m just giving you a warning. I know how this new,” he used air quotes, “relationship is going to turn out. I just wanted to share my friendly warning. You might think that Finn is falling for you again, but we all know he’s not. You hurt him and a man never forgives a hurt like that.”
She wanted to throw herself at him and rake his cheeks with her nails. The fucker had hit upon one of her fears. Fuck it, she wanted Finn, she wasn’t ashamed to tell everyone in the room. She swallowed and spoke slowly to the pompous man in front of her. “Don’t come here and spew that venom. Finn and I are together. I’ve ask for his understanding and his forgiveness and he gave that to me.”
She felt Finn’s arms encircle her waist and pull her back against his chest.
“Your kind of ugliness has no place here. You need to go. You need to go before I really show you how badly a lady like me can behave, because I’m about to kick your ass into tomorrow.” She continued staring at Major, daring him to say another word.
You Only (Cameron Farms Book 1) Page 20